Blood Stained Youth
by brawlingwolf
Summary: A series of one-shots exploring the history of a certain blood-obsessed Plegian Dark Mage with a distinct and undeniable grin, looking back at his friends, his family, his studies, and the rivers of blood spilt around him. Rated T (to be safe) for violence and some language.


**Author's Note: **Henry is definitely one of those characters filed in my mind under "Needs to be expanded on but really just doesn't get the chance to be." I've done the best I can to put all this together from what I've gathered through support conversations and his dialogue in DLC episodes. For example, this comes from his B support with Cherche and his B support with Panne. I guess I put two and two together, so to speak.

It should probably be noted that I have a certain headcanon about Henry, but it won't play any explicit role (as far as I can foresee). Maybe some of you readers who really dive into my other works and follow my art can figure it out.

* * *

"Momma!" a small voice called out as a young, white-haired boy stumbled through the woods, tripping over roots and attempting to avoid the thorn-filled bushes. The sun had just about disappeared behind the horizon, casting long, dark shadows around him as the sounds of the wild night began to come alive: the hoot of an owl, the growl of a nocturnal predator somewhere else in the trees. The boy wasn't scared- Darkness didn't bother him, and he even felt at home in it. He was, however, confused, by the words his mother had left him with.

"I can't take it anymore!" she'd cried out as she led him through the forest. "I cannot take another moment of this demon child!" He didn't understand what she was talking about, but he knew she was upset. She'd told him to go explore the woods, and he'd done so happily. But when he tried to return to her, he found she'd disappeared without a trace.

"Momma!" he called again, but there was no reply. He'd been looking for her since long before sunset, and he was starting to wonder if he'd ever find her. "Papa?" Maybe his father had come looking for him instead. But, again, there was no answer. He looked down with a crestfallen face, unable to understand why she had left without him or what she meant when she'd called him a "demon child." He'd heard the phrase before when his parents were entertaining company, but never had anyone said it directly to his face.

"Oop!" his foot caught on a fallen branch, and he found himself falling. He put his hands out to catch himself, but the rough rock beneath him scratched and cut his palms so that a slight bit of blood broke the surface. Now on his knees, he stared at his hands. He'd seen other children his age gain such ouchies, and they'd gone running and crying to their parents. But, though his hands felt some sense of discomfort, he didn't understand why they made such a big deal about it.

He heard a shifting of fallen leaves behind him and turned around, and he nearly fell back again at the sight of a large, but beautiful, wolf eyeing him with her head held low to the ground. She did not growl, but he could see her nose twitch as she took in his scent. Finally, he felt a twinge of fear. Animals liked blood too, didn't they? They were drawn to it- especially predators like this one. She briefly bared her teeth and approached him, and he swallowed as he trembled and held out his hand. But she did not take it.

Instead, she touched her wet nose to the side of his head and sniffed him over, and he couldn't help but smile and laugh.

"Hey, that tickles!" he protested lightly. And, strangely, she licked his cheek and turned her head to watch him. He met her gaze, and his smile grew. "You're not so bad!" He reached his hand out and brushed it against the side of her neck. "You're like me. People think I'm scary too." The wolf laid down next to him, and he curled up against her flank with his fingers intertwining gently in her fur. "Mm… you're soft, too!"

Again, she licked him, and he smiled.

"Haha, thanks. I'm Henry! But I guess that doesn't matter too much to you. Oh well!" he giggled before his mood fell again. "Do you know where my momma went? I wanna go home."

She turned to him again and nudged him back to his feet.

"Okay, okay!" he laughed as he stood. "Where are we going?" She started pacing away slowly, looking over her shoulder to assure he was following. When he stumbled over the rocks and roots of the forest, she stopped and nudged him with her nose until he got back to his feet, and she never went far enough to escape his field of vision. After some time, he found she'd led him to a small den.

"Is this your home?" he wondered as she gazed at him, and she entered the den before looking back to see if he was following. He complied and she again laid down, and he curled up against her side once more. "Can I stay with you?" he asked, and she again licked the side of his head to receive a smile as his eyelids grew heavy against her warmth. "Thanks. You're a good wolf! Will you be my friend?"

She touched her nose to his side and rested her head against him.

"Okay," he yawned. "Night, night, friend." With her soft fur as his blanket and the gentle rhythm of her breathing as his lullaby, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

He spent the next day and night with the wolf, and she was nice enough to share her kill with him and led him to water. He silently admitted that it was a bit strange to eat raw meat, especially when it was still warm and bloody, but he was so hungry that he couldn't complain. After his second night with her as his new friend and guardian, something he was starting to doubt happened.

"HENRY!" he heard a voice call. "Damn it, boy, where are you?" He peaked around a tree to find his mother stomping through the woods and calling his name.

"Momma!" he replied and hurried over to her despite the wolf's whimper from a short distance away.

"There you are," his mother sighed, though he couldn't tell if she was relieved or upset to have found him. "Come on. We're going home." He blinked.

"I don't wanna go home," he announced, and she stared at him.

"Of course, you don't," she mumbled. "Well, you are. So let's go." She took his hand and started leading him away, back toward a nearby town they called home.

"But what about my friend?" he complained, reaching back as he saw the wolf following them from a safe distance. "I want her to come too!"

"Oh, stop it, Henry," his mother scolded. "You don't have any friends." She paused. "Not out here, anyway," she added a bit too late.

"Yes, I do!" he insisted, but she ignored him, and he waved with a sad face toward his wolf friend as she whined for him to come back.

She must have followed them or picked up his scent trail, because that night, she ventured into the village. From a window in the place he really had no choice but to call home, he looked up when he heard her whimpering and whining for him. His smile lit up and he scrambled out the window.

But he wasn't the only one who heard her.

"Beast!" some man called. "Stupid thing, innit? Straying into town."

"C'mon, men! That thing's gotta be hungry if it's coming here!"

"Kill it before it gets the livestock!" Several hunters armed with various bows and other weapons took up their positions as the wolf continued on, calling for her adopted pup.

"No!" Henry cried, racing toward her with his hand held out. "Don't shoot! Don't hurt her!" They either didn't hear him or, more likely, chose to ignore his pleas.

"Ready, men!" one called. "Aim… Fire!"

"NO!" But Henry's strangled voice couldn't stop the arrows as they sped forth, and his wolf friend yipped, whimpered, and cried as each made contact and broke through her fur and skin. She stumbled and fell with a slight thud to the dirt, and he felt his heart racing as he hurried over to her and knelt down at her side.

"No, no…" he kept repeating as he patted her side. She lifted her head briefly, but it fell back to the ground and she ceased moving. Tears stung his eyes and dripped down his cheeks and onto her flank as he nudged her, trying to get her back to her paws, but she didn't respond.

"Get back, boy!" some hunter ordered. "That beast could still be dangerous!" He didn't listen and found a spot on her side that hadn't been shot full of arrows, and he burrowed his head into her fur.

"Someone get him away from it," another scoffed. "Let's skin it before it has a chance to rot!" Henry looked up as several of the hunters advanced toward him and his fallen wolf friend, and he felt his heavy grief mix with anger and hate.

"Get back!" he cried out, throwing his hand to the side. "Don't touch her!" Again, they either didn't listen or just ignored him. "GET BACK!" he repeated at the top of his lungs, clenching his fingers into fists.

"Come on, lad. Get away from it. We did what we had to do." Henry whipped his head to face the man speaking, who backed up about half a pace.

"She wanted to see me!" he sobbed. "She wouldn't hurt anyone!"

"It's a beast, kid! A monster!" Henry flinched at the words and trembled.

"Y-You'll pay for this!" he shouted and called up the dark power boiling within him. "You'll pay!" he repeated, straining his voice, and shot forth a cast of dark magic at the nearest hunter. He lost control, shouting wordlessly until he exhausted himself and blood stained the street, the hunters lying in the pools. Henry collapsed, panting, against his friend and chewed his lip as he tried to use the same magic that had brought death to bring life back to her, but to no avail. She was gone, a truth that strained his heart, but so were the hunters that had stolen her from him. He clutched her fur and sobbed until his father finally came and collected him without a word and other townsfolk went to inspect the fallen hunters.

And, of course, the names came.

_Menace._

_Evil._

_Killer._

_Freak._

_Demon child._

None of them meant anything to Henry. Even as his parents scolded him harshly, told him he couldn't be kept there any longer, said he couldn't use magic anymore around them, he barely listened. The only thing he could focus on was the grim satisfaction he felt in watching the hunters bleed and break in their payment for his fallen friend.


End file.
